VC Intrepid II 1308 Tie Rod Issue

[ne87565]

Hey all - I inherited my families old Vermont Castings Intrepid II 1308 for use in my 1880s balloon frame house when they got a newer VC Intrepid II 1990. I had meticulously ground and chiseled all the cement out of the joints and have been doing a whole rebuilt. I re-cemented it yesterday and all was going shockingly smoothly, until i sheared off one of the 4 tie rods (i re-used the old warped ones...). Does anyone have any input on how to deal with this? My first thought was to try and drill out the hole in the top where the tip sheared off and replace the rod, but I was also debating just running it with 3 tie rods attached and just making sure I only lift it from the bottom. Any input would be great, thanks!

 

[DAKSY]

Carefully drill it out & then re-tap the threads. You can get replacement tie rods (1/4-20 threaded rod)
at most hardware stores. You really should replace all 4 after a rebuild.

 

[fbelec]

definitely drill and tap. as log as you don't try to tighten the top down with the rods should be ok. should be put the top on and tighten a ittle the rubber hammer then thighten more and so on. if you don't have the 4 on i would think that over time the top would warp

 

[ne87565]

Thanks for both of your input. I wound up not being able to drill and tap it because of how close the rod threads into the corner of the stove. I didn't want to take it apart because I had just re-cemented all of the joints back together and it was a real pain grinding and chiseling the old cement off in the first place. I contacted a welding shop about welding a rod to only the top of the stove, so it could still be taken apart....but this sounded risky. They said they would really have to heat the cast iron and I could get cracking etc.

My new plan is to run it for a year with the three tie rods (careful not to over fire) and see how it goes. Stay tuned to find out how this turns out and let me know of any more ideas!